When you disagree with a school discipline strategy

[Whowhatwherewhenwhynow]

what is the correct process to use to communicate with a school about disagreeing with some of their strategies?

min particular I want to raise the issue of children having play time removed for not recording enough reads in their home/school book.

I was planning to email the head but shouldI email the governors as well. I know I’m likely to be fobbed off but I do wish to voice my concerns. The school is part of an academy, so I could approach them too.

is there any other way of raising these types of issues with schools? (I’m in England)

The school should have discipline and complaints policies, probably online. Get hold of copies and follow the complaints policy.

Thank you.
Actually this was the information I was hoping for rather than a discussion about the strategy itself (although I am interested to hear others opinions).

mill send an informal email first and then consider if I want to complain. I don’t really want to ‘complain’ but I will see how things progress.

The school is part of an large academy so I get the impression many of these things come from above rather than from he school internally.

Reading regularly is proven to improve educational outcomes so it absolutely is an evidence based policy.

Schools are under pressure to ensure children make progress. They need support of parents

this, it baffles me that parents are so involved. I mean it's good to be involved with your kid's education but some parents these days are way too over invested. My parents let the teachers get on with it, we knew not to complain and we got on with it as did our generatiion and yes we are all fine. Parents need to back off. Parents in year 3 be acting as if their kids were about to do their a levels.
Thank God I am no longer teaching, the parents were the worst part probably.

I totally agree with you op. Children need time to play. It's not right to take away a young child's playtime when they are young and what happens at home they can't control. Same with young children forgetting pe kits. It's the parents who have forgot not the child. It reminds me of this......(see below). We don't always know what's happening at home and why reading isn't done. The young child should not be judged or punished. You are right to highlight its wrong to the school. I would email the head.

Poem: “Cause I Ain’t Got a Pencil,” by Joshua T. Dickerson
I woke myself up

Because we ain’t got an alarm clock

Dug in the dirty clothes basket,

Cause ain’t nobody washed my uniform

Brushed my hair and teeth in the dark,

Cause the lights ain’t on

Even got my baby sister ready,

Cause my mama wasn’t home.

Got us both to school on time,

To eat us a good breakfast.

Then when I got to class the teacher fussed

Cause I ain’t got no pencil.

Does your friend want you to intervene on her behalf?

Sorry you misunderstood me.
I understand that regular reading improves outcomes, but does punishment for not reading regularly or “recording” reads improve outcomes? It’s the strategy to increase reading I’m questioning, not the reading itself. I absolutely agree that regularly reading is beneficial not only academically but for general development and bonding with a parent. I love books and reading with my children, that’s why it saddens me to see it framed in such a negative way. My friend whose child is in reception wasn’t supported in any way, her son had play time removed and that was it. She still has mental health issues, she will still struggle to manage her routine to write in reads, she’ll just fake reads so he doesn’t loose his play time. Im
not sure what’s been achieved.

I’m not sure why people are deliberately misinterpreting this and telling you it’s something it’s not. It states they miss Friday morning playtime. Not two minutes of it. Not that children not logging reading will get extra support at school. If you have to pretend the situation is something it’s not to make it palatable, then it’s probably wrong.

If any of the adults at work here received a punishment because their superior failed to do something, nobody would be twisting the scenario into something else to try and defend the punishment.

At the primary school we chose by the way, all the children went and did 121 reading time with a TA. It was built into the week.

It's simple enough to communicate as a one off that the work has been completed but not recorded. It's not the discipline policy that's the issue.

I’m with you OP. People on here seem to fail to understand that there are many children in this country who have a home life that for whatever reason means their reading record might not be filled in, this is not their fault yet they are the ones to lose playtime which at a young age is a punishment. We all know that reading at home is beneficial but wether that happens or not and is recorded in a book is not down to the child.

Of course the discipline policy is the issue. How is removing the playtime going to accomplish anything with a parent who for whatever reason isn’t willing or able to read with their child at home?

I agree with you OP on this.

A class teacher can't change a school policy. Policies are written by heads and governors. Ask for a copy of the policy that this rule came from and then write to head and chair of governors to explain your POV.

i think you are right to be concerned about policies that punish children unable to write in their books taht they did x y or z. it's reactionary and authoritarian and pays little attention to the real needs of children, to be heard, understood and supported. Talk about their psychological needs as children in your complaint. Well done for doing it on behalf of others who may not be able to speak out. Schools need more people like you. Help the school to 'think' rather than respond in a way which is really uninformed and unhelpful to children. Sounds bloody awful.

You can ask for a copy of the policy about how to discipline pupils - this may be called something like "Pupil behaviour and discipline". This should address how pupils are punished when they do not obey the school rules (such as not completing their homework etc).

If you feel that the school has stepped outside its policy, you can go down the complaints procedure route.

However, if the school has followed its own stated policy, then you have no grounds for a complaint. In that case, you would be better off giving informal feedback to the teacher / head. There should also be a parent governor who you could approach to discuss the matter. They won't want to hear about individual children / situations, but they could raise a general discussion point at the next governors meeting about the appropriateness of this style of punishment.

Is it living in a bubble day on MN? I know you asked about how to complain OP - I'm not in England so can't help with that - but OMG of course you should complain! Little children shouldn't be penalised for their parents' actions. Parents need support, not more stress. And you are totally right that even for older children, punishing them for not doing a thing isn't going to make them love the thing...

Thanks for the fab advice about how to approach it. It is much appreciated. I harbour no I’ll feeling to any individual staff member (Possibly themselves do not agree with it).

I’ll try an informal email to the head first.

Op - I would go and have a word with the class teacher. I imagine if the school knew the specific circumstances of the child you are talking about, they would apply the policy flexibly. They probably do this all the time, but might not yet know the Reception kids sufficiently well, given they've only been in school a few weeks.

I completely agree with your point OP.

No. I don’t intended to reference her specifically either. I was uncomfortable when I first heard of the strategy, she has just provided me with a real life example of why I was uncomfortable with it.

she’s aware I plan to communicate with the school about the strategy and is happy someone else is. I won’t involve myself In her situation specifically

FYI each policy will have a section at the end saying who signed the policy off, what date, and what date it is reviewed. All policies will be agreed through a governors meeting at each review.

I don't think yours is a complaint as such, it's a request to review/change a policy. Policies can change, that's why they are reviewed periodically (usually each year).

There's a difference between being completely unsupportive of schools and their staff and asking for critical review of school policy as a parent, and this is obviously a case of the latter.

I agree with you.

Up until juniors they rely on the parents and it's not the child's fault the parent doesn't have time or records it.

It's the same way I don't agree any child up until secondary should be punished for being late.

I've seen cases of children deliberately not doing things or getting things recorded at home in order to avoid playtime's because they are being bullied.

Punishment can hide a multitude of things that communication could solve.

Initially I would speak to the class teacher. If there has been a reason that reading hasn't been done then they will understand. Alternatively if there is an issue which is preventing reading happening at home regularly, again speak to the teacher who can arrange support inschool for this to happen.

My child got a punishment for me forgetting to sign something 😡
Absolutely email the head but it's not a governor issue unless your not happy about the heads response.

👏👏👏👏👏

Lie? Write in the book they have read?

My older dd was extremely advanced reader and it was a waste of time being tethered to the inflexible reading scheme when she was reading novels.
So I just signed it off.

I appreciate it's hard for school to get reading done but they need to engage the parents and deal with individual cases. It's far far too much pressure to put into small children!! Who have little control over who writes in their book.